First in vitro Kidney Tissue

In a first for regenerative medicine, bioengineers at the University of Manchester have grown functional human kidney tissue organelles from pluripotent stem cells in vitro. These tiny masses have all the necessary components of nephrons: proximal and distal tubules, Bowman’s capsule and Loop of Henley. And they are able to produce urine. While the organelles contain hundreds of nephron, that is far fewer than the million or so that make up a human kidney. Still, this is an important step toward the bigger goal. MORE